Page 13 of Hot Summer

Jayden didn’t even hesitate. “Maddison, you’re lovely, but I’d like to partner up with Sienna.”

Maddison shrugged a little before she stepped back in line, and the smile that spread across Sienna’s face was immediate, impossible to miss for its brightness. Jayden made his way to her in a half dozen long strides, and after she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, he wrapped her in a firm hug, crushing her to him.

“Uh.” Even from this distance, Cas could hear the air being crushed out of Sienna’s lungs. “Jayden, don’t kill me, please.”

The next few boys who trotted through were similarly attractive, though Cas hadn’t yet felt pulled to step forward for any of them. They were fine—handsome, even—but if Cas was going to spend weeks sharing a bed with this guy, she at least wanted to feel something. Or be able to pretend that she felt something.

A young guy named Reece coupled up with Maddison, and a tall, admittedly lovely man, Femi, coupled up with Lexi (though there were a few glances from Sienna that suggested that she, too, had been thinking of stepping forward), until, finally, it was just Cas and Ada left to be coupled up.

“Cas and Ada!” Mila was smiling, but there was a slight frustration in her voice. “Why do you think you haven’t stepped forward yet?”

Fuck. Did she look picky? Standoffish?

“I can’t possibly compete with these girls,” Ada said, gesturing down the line. “I want them to get their first choices, you know? Who am I to swoop in and steal someone off them?”

“Definitely,” Cas agreed. She held Ada’s gaze for a long beat before she turned to look at Mila. “It’s over for Ada, though, if I’m into the next guy that comes down those stairs.”

Ada laughed from beside her, and Cas was drawn back to her. Ada’s smile took over her whole face, was shining in her eyes, and Cas couldn’t help but match her expression.

“Well, then I hope this next lad is your type, Cas. Please welcome Brad to the villa!”

Brad was the traditional Hot Summer blond blockhead, in that he was blond and had a head shaped like a literal block of cement. He had an okay smile and a strong jawline, but it just...

It felt like a shrug, looking at Brad.

But maybe there was more to him underneath it all. There probably wasn’t, but maybe Cas was just being... judgmental.

Until Ada stepped forward, the only one to do so, and Cas whipped her head round in incredulity.

She was going to step forward for Brad? Brad, of all people?

Mila beamed. “Ada! Brad tickled your fancy, huh?”

Ada nodded mutely, and Brad’s smile widened.

“Well, Brad, as you can see, Ada has stepped forward—you’re the only one she’s stepped forward for. How does that make you feel?”

“Quite special, Mila.”

Oh god. He was posh. His slicked-back hair and now this accent? He was probably, like, an estate agent or something, too. The worst people she’d ever met in her life were estate agents.

Almost like her thoughts summoned him, Brad’s eyes flicked to Cas. His head tilted just slightly, his left eye narrowing as his gaze swept over Cas.

It took everything Cas had to keep the scowl off her face.

“You can choose to partner up with Ada or you can choose any of the other girls in front of you, even if they’re already coupled up.” Mila paused for a long moment before she continued, and Brad’s eyes finally snapped away from Cas. “So, Brad, who do you think you’re going to choose?”

Brad pointed at Ada floundering in the middle of the grass. “Beautiful Ada, of course.”

Mila looked delighted, beaming at him as if Brad had just revealed he’d cured cancer. “Get on over there, then! Introducing your fourth couple, Brad and Ada!”

Brad seemed to be walking in slow motion as he made his way over to her, like he was intentionally slowing his pace so the cameras had to linger on him for as long as humanly possible. He ran his hand through his hair as he walked across the grass, an almost shy smile on his face as he looked at Ada from underneath his lashes.

There was no way that softness was genuine.

Brad touched his fingers to the outside of Ada’s arm before leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Nice to meet you.”

Ada pressed up onto her toes and, before he could pull back, kissed his cheek. “Nice to meet you, too.”

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